


A Seal Upon Thine Heart

by scalpelsandhappiness



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: M/M, Wedding Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 08:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17056505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scalpelsandhappiness/pseuds/scalpelsandhappiness
Summary: Magnus and Alec take one last moment before celebrating their marriage.





	A Seal Upon Thine Heart

Rafael’s eyes were already drooping shut as Magnus tucked the covers over him more securely, and kissed his soft cheek. Lying beside Tavvy, Max was already out cold, his tiny blue mouth open with a hint of drool on one side.

“Sleep well, darlings,” Magnus whispered, doing one last scan of the room before slipping out quietly and shutting the door. Waving his hand, he cast a quick silencing spell that covered the muffled sounds of celebration still coming from the beach below, and headed down the hall to his and Alec’s borrowed bedroom.

Shrugging off his jacket as he entered, he looked for his husband, and saw Alec in the bathroom beyond, finishing up brushing his teeth. Alec grinned around a mouthful of toothpaste, quickly rinsed, and then asked, “How are the boys?”

“Hopefully they will sleep in tomorrow, even with the time difference from New York,” Magnus reassured Alec. He cast his eyes appreciatively over Alec’s lean, bare torso, and then laughed with surprise at his underwear. “Are those—“

“Gold silk boxer shorts, yes,” Alec laughed in return. “I do not want to know where Jace found them.”

“I’ll send him a thank-you note,” Magnus stated with fervent approval. “And suggest he goes shopping for you more often. Now come here,” he pled, toeing his shoes off and heading towards the bed. “I need to kiss my husband.”

Alec smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Shower first? We were out at the beach for hours. It’s our wedding night, and I don’t want sand in uncomfortable places.”

“You do know I could just banish all the sand with a wave of my hand, right?”

“No. You’ve been using so much magic for portals the last few weeks.” Alec lifted his hand, holding off Magnus’s protest. “I know Catarina said all of you are recovered! I just don’t want you overexerting yourself.” He stepped closer to Magnus, tilted his head up, and kissed Magnus’s lips softly. “You’ll enjoy washing off, and I can arrange a few things while I wait for you.”

“Kiss me again, and you’ve got a deal.” Magnus smiled against Alec’s lips as Alec leaned in and helped unbutton Magnus’s shirt for good measure. Sighing with happiness, Magnus savored the warm press of Alec’s skin against his own. Aside from one ecstatic evening back in New York after the waters of Lake Lyn had cured him, extended time to be intimate with each other had been hard to come by. First, the warlock illness had put Alec’s worried focus on caring for him as a patient, and then, Alec’s election as Consul and setting up the government in exile had stolen him from his family’s side for most hours of the day. With one last lingering brush of his lips against Alec’s soft mouth, he stepped back, and strode into the bathroom. “I’ll be quick,” he promised over his shoulder.

**

Slipping his black silk robe over his shoulders, Magnus opened the door to the bathroom, and stood still, sweeping his gaze around the room, where soft candlelight from a dozen tea lights scattered around the room cast a golden glow on Alec’s pale skin.

“Catarina enchanted them for us,” Alec said from his perch on the bed. “They’ll self-extinguish when we fall asleep so we don’t have to worry about burning down the Institute.”

“I’m a little worried about how invested our friends are in our sex life, Alexander,” Magnus drily observed.

“No. They’re just happy for us, and want our wedding night to be a nice as possible,” Alec defended their ridiculous friends and family.

“It’s been more than nice. It’s been _perfect_ ,” Magnus praised him. “I can’t believe all of you pulled this off, with how busy everyone has been.” His eyes stung momentarily, recalling how so many details they’d discussed over the years had been incorporated into the celebration, and how lucky he was to have a partner who paid attention to their happiness.

Alec’s smile was as bright as a star. “Everyone helped. And there’s nothing like being friends with warlocks to get things set up in a hurry. Most everything we needed was in a storage room in the basement. Once I’d pulled you aside, Ragnor summoned it out onto the beach.”

“Along with some of his very inappropriate fireworks,” Magnus snickered, sitting beside Alec on the bed. “I’m glad he waited until the kids were really tired before bringing those ones out.” Brushing his hand over Alec’s nearest shoulder, he leaned in for another kiss.

Alec returned the kiss eagerly, sliding the robe from Magnus’s shoulder, then pulled back quickly. “Oh, just a moment, I forgot—my stele—“

Magnus shook his head, drawing Alec close once more. “No stele. As busy as you’ve been, we are _not_ using your stamina rune tonight. That waits until the uproar has died down and we can have a proper honeymoon. Besides,” he whispered as he pressed his cheek against Alec’s neck, “it’s not like we need Clary’s birth control rune…”

Alec snorted out a laugh, standing up and moving toward one of the bedside tables. “That’s not what we need it for, I promise.” Picking up the stele, he returned to Magnus’s side, then gestured at his arm, where the Wedded Union rune he had helped Magnus draw only hours before stood out in inky contrast on Alec’s pale skin, and next at the unmarked skin over his heart. “I wanted us to place the other rune, first.”

“Oh, Alexander,” Magnus sighed. His sweet, adorable husband. Magnus’s mind flashed back to the last time they’d been in this room, on the night Diana and Gwyn had retrieved the healing waters of Lake Lyn. Swimming back to consciousness from the fading layers of pain and confusion, he’d seen Alec’s worried face break with a smile that soon transformed into his lips trembling, and the tears he’d held back during the weeks of Magnus’s illness sweeping down his beautiful face.  Jace had swooped in, catching the precious vial of water, as Alec pressed his face against Magnus, and let go of the burden of stress, fear, and anguish he’d held at bay for weeks. Magnus had felt Alec’s tears dampen his shoulder, and took it as the benediction it was; an anointment of the devotion and steadfast love his beloved held for him. Alec’s strength had held Magnus together at a time when they feared he might not survive; that they might also lose Max to the curse. He’d known for years that the love they held for each other was sincere and profound. That night, he recognized a truth he’d known for years; it was also a sacrament.

And that was what Alec was asking of him now. Magnus had seen Alec’s joy in being able to be married with the recognition of both their cultures. He and Magnus had not _needed_ the acknowledgement to be certain in what they meant to each other, but nonetheless they had both wanted it fiercely.  It was a reminder to Magnus, on the long days bleeding into the evenings when he longed for Alec’s presence, that Alec was reshaping the Clave to use the Law not only as a sword, but as a shield; as a new government that wanted the defenders against demons to not only be effective, but happy. That Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike had a common bond; a common wish for lives led in peace and joy.

Alec’s blue eyes gleamed in the candlelight as he grasped his stele. “Will you help me place it?”

Eyes stinging with tears, Magnus nodded, leaning forward to press a firm kiss against Alec’s heart, then leaning his face against it to hear the steadfast beat. “ _Place me as a seal over thine heart,_ ” he whispered, before straightening and joining his hand with Alec’s as they moved the stele into place.

Alec activated the stele, and with his guidance, Magnus helped trace the rune. “And so we are bound,” Alec whispered in reply.

Magnus sniffed, trying to hold onto a modicum of dignity and composure, as Alec returned the stele to its previous location. From the fact that Alec grabbed a tissue before returning to his side, Magnus might not have been as successful as he would like. Of course, Alec’s eyes were equally bright, so at least their levels of dignity were in equilibrium.

“I love you,” Alec promised him softly. “I wish I had words for everything in my heart right now.”

Magnus thought back to the wonderful day they’d spent together, in the company of beloved friends and family. Of all the days, spiraling back from their first meeting, their struggles to grow together, and the devotion and peace he’d felt knowing that for a span of time, he had found a person who brought  joy and peace to his heart. He looked at the love evident in Alec’s gaze.

“I don’t need words from you,” Magnus smiled, moving closer to draw Alec into his embrace. “I have your heart, your love, your soul. And I will not let you go.”

**Author's Note:**

> And then they had wonderful, loving, smutty sex. But as much as I love Malec smut, that's not what I wanted here. I thought CC did an amazing job of capturing the ritual and holiness that was part of Magnus's and Alec's wedding, and although I usually prefer to read fic than write it, this plot bunny wouldn't let me go.


End file.
